On the evening of September 25, 2023, in Hobbs, New Mexico, 19-year-old Brennon Zack Smith was fatally shot. The shooting happened around 6:45 p.m. in the 200 block of West Copper Avenue, near Mills Elementary School. Smith was found inside his silver pickup truck after it had crashed into a wall; witnesses initially reported a single-vehicle crash and said they had heard a gunshot. He was taken to Covenant Health Hobbs Hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Security camera footage from outside Mills Elementary captured Smith parking near the school fence line. Investigators say interviews and the video show a 15-year-old male approached Smith’s vehicle to conduct a marijuana deal and shot him in the head during the transaction. An arrest warrant was issued for the juvenile; he was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder and attempt to commit a felony, armed robbery. Brennon was a 2022 graduate of Hobbs High School and was attending New Mexico Junior College at the time of his death.

Did anyone in the Hobbs area see Smith that evening or have information about the deal that led to the shooting?